HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (Court TV) — A Florida jury will decide whether Jason Banegas deserves death or life in prison for killing Hollywood Police Officer Yandy Chirino in 2021.
Banegas, now 22, pleaded guilty in October to first-degree murder and other charges on the day his trial was set to begin. He was 18 years old when Chirino was shot and killed as he struggled with Banegas over a gun. Banegas was arrested three weeks later and has been jailed without bond since.
Jason Banegas attends a hearing on October 20, 2025. (Court TV)
Now, a Broward County jury is tasked with deciding whether to recommend a life sentence or death for Banegas. At least 8 of the 12 jurors must agree on a death sentence. Judge Ernest Kollra will have the final say.
At the start of the penalty phase, Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley said Banegas deserved the death penalty because the shooting was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel, one of several aggravating factors prosecutors cited in their death penalty notice, along with Chirino’s status as an officer killed in the line of duty.
The jury has heard emotional victim impact evidence and testimony about the shooting. Chirino was responding to a call of a suspect on a bicycle breaking into cars in the Emerald Hills neighborhood of Hollywood on October 17, 2021, when he encountered Banegas.
Chirino’s colleague, Det. Manuel Rodriguez-Blevins teared up on the witness stand as he described coming upon the scene after Chirino was shot. He said he saw Chirino and Banegas “wrestling” on the ground and Chirino fighting for his life.
“He was pointing at his face,” Rodriguez-Blevins said, fighting back tears. “I saw that they were tussling over something but didn’t realize what it was until I saw the barrel.”
Hollywood Police Chief Jeffrey Devlin delivered victim impact evidence about Chirino’s character, describing him as the kind of officer who would stay late to finish a report so a colleague could go home to his family. Devlin said some of Chirino’s colleagues still experience “survivor’s guilt” over what they could have done differently to save his life.
“The loss of Officer Chirino was not simply a tragic event; it caused a permanent wound,” Devlin testified.
Det. Nancie Toler walked the jury through a timeline of Banegas’ attempted car burglaries on the night of the shooting and the arrivals of Chirino, followed by his colleague, Blevins-Rodriguez and others. The jury also saw Toler’s interview with the defendant in which he accused Chirino of being aggressive with him.
Former Broward Chief Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Robinson testified about the victim’s gunshot injuries. The jury viewed gruesome autopsy photos showing gaping gunshot wounds in Chirino’s face and internal injuries in his neck that partially decapitated his head. Questioning from both sides focused on Robinson’s inability to determine which gunshots came first or the location and position of the defendant and victim during the shooting.
Officer Chirino’s sister, Yaily Chirino, delivered emotional victim impact testimony through a spokesperson. She and her parents sobbed and hugged each other on the witness stand as the statement was read.
“Not a day passes without the weight of his memory. We wake up with grief, go through our days with disbelief and fall asleep with a pain that feels endless,” Yaily Chirino said in her statement. “We have lived with sleepless nights, fear, anxiety and a profound disparity, knowing that we will never again hear his voice, see his smile or feel his embrace.”
Chirinio’s girlfriend, Chelsea Howell, said the emotional trauma of that night will “play in (her) mind the rest of (her) life.” Howell said Chirinio wasn’t even supposed to be working the night he was killed.
The state rested on Thursday. The defense’s case begins Monday.
